Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-08-26
Water Bacteria.

A very large part of practical public ny
giene of the present day is devoted to the
providing of pure water supplies and of
the making it inconvenient and difficult to
use polluted water The possibility of doing
this certainly, constantly, and economically
depends upon our knowledge as to what i'm
purities are dangerous to health. and as to
how these impurities can best be prevented
and got rid Of. We have learned that among
the most dangerous forms of water impuri-
ties are certain bacteria, but that all natural
waters contain certain other kinds of bac-
terra which are harmless even if they are
not actually beneficial. These last are
what the German psychologists call water
barterien'-i. e., wasser bacteria-by
which they mean not by any means all
bacteria which may be found in water, but
those bacteria which arr usually found
there, and which. under ordinary circum-
stances, produce 10 i'll effects on those us
ing the water There are several different
kinds of thesn water bacteria, some of
which only appear at certain seasons, some
of which produce BLUSH or red pigments
and which are distinguished by the effects
they produce in or on various culture
media, such as gelatin, sugar, milk, pota
toes, Some of them will grow and multi
plv not only in what is ordinarily termed
pure water but in water that appears to
chemical tests to be absolutely pure, in
freshly distilled water, in which it would
seem impossible for them to find food for
their support.
They are found not only in surface
waters, but also in deep well waters,
though in very small numbers and present
many curious problems to the investigator,
One of the most interesting and important
of these problems is as to the influence
which they may exert upon other and more
dangerous organisms which find their way
into their presence In some way or other
the disease producing bacteria disappears;
the epidemic of anthrax or cholera or ty-
phoid comes to an end; there are, aS DR..
Buchanan says, forces of nature which OPP
pose the multiplication of the specific germs
of disease and the future aim of sanitary
science will be to make use of these forces.
Among these forces it seems very proba-
bic that one of the most powerful is the
agency of other bacteria, which produce
what we call the self publication of
rivers by destroying those which are
more harmful. The great majority of the
disease producing bateria, while in the
stage of active multiplication and develop
nent appear 10 nave less tenaclty OF ne ana
to be more easily destroyed than the harm
less forms, and this should be the case,
since we may presume that the forms
most commonly found are those best suit
ed to succeed in the struggle for existence,
and are best adapted to the conditions pre-
scented in ordinary natural waters,
1t is, however, a question whether some
of the common harmless forms of water
bacteria may not become dangerous when
large quantities of organic matter suitable
for their nouIishment are added to the
waters which contain them, either because
great numbers of them may produce effects
which few cannot, or because peculiari-
ties of food supply and temperature may
change radically their character and pro
ducts
In any case it is very certain that careful
and long continued study of the life history
of the harmless water bacteria is essential
for the progress of the science of hygiene,
and there is little doubt that in the course
of such study many discoveries will be
made which will bear not only on disease
prevention but upon agricultural and man
ufacturing interests as we'll